An offering of ashes, an offering to You.

Had my first day of classes back from my nice, 4 day-long weekend, which actually went relatively well. Chem was chill, and we got our tests that we took on Friday back today (I did pretty ‘average’, according to the class’ average that Pr. Melaugh gave to us). Calculus consisted of review for Friday’s test, we went over Impressionism in Art, and Philosophy featured another lecture – as always. After school, I made a quick visit to SHCP and then headed home. At home, I did some homework due for Friday until my sister, mom, dad, and Donmig got home – just in time for 6:00 PM mass at OLM. Mass was great, especially considering that today was Ash Wednesday, and thus – the beginning of Lent (more about that in my “thought of the day”). After mass, we went home and I had my first meal of the day – dinner! I had been fasting all day and allowed myself one legitimate meal (I did have some apple slices in the morning, but that’s not a real meal), and I must say.. Dinner was absolutely delicious! After that, my day slowly came to a close, as homework, today’s Project 366 entry, and various other bits and pieces made up the rest of my evening.

Thought of the day? “Not everyone will readily reflect on the fact that we are ashes. But the beauty of it is that God took the dust of the ground and breathed life into us. The very source of why we exist is in God. Apart from God, we are nothing.” These words from none other than JR Jaldon sum it up a lot better than I could ever. The reason for Ash Wednesday is for our remembrance that we are a part of God, that we are His children, and that He is the source of our existence. The commencement of Lent teaches us the values of sacrifice, commitment, and what true love is all about. We do it for no one else but God, as it is a way of Him working through our lives, as well as onto the lives of others. Here’s to a blessed forty days of sacrifice, that we may take everything that we may learn through Him and make it a part of our every day lives – not just during Lent.

D700 + 85/1.4. Snapped this after mass, because I felt like it was completely fitting for today’s entry. Upon running this image through LR3, and then CS5, I’m extremely satisfied with the outcome considering that it was a quick point & shoot snapshot-esque image!

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“Those who have become similarly frustrated with the lack of coverage of your local schools can turn to SanFranPreps.com for a consistent and balanced view into the prep sports scene in the city of San Francisco.”

Did math homework for the majority of my morning/ noon, and had Donmig come over shortly before we headed to SHCP (since he’s off for the week & I was off for today). At SHCP, we said our hellos to Jenn, who unfortunately had choir right after school, and Donmig ended up seeing a bunch of his friends there as well. After that, we picked up my sister, got Sushi & Teaway, and then headed home. At home, Donmig & I gave my car a very much needed wash, and finished just in time to bring Angelica to her community service thing that she had for school. After that, Donmig went home, I rested for a bit, and later on went to Pacifica to photograph a game between Jewish Community and Trinity Christian in the evening.

Thought of the day? Having been shooting for San Fran Preps for over a year now (if I’m not mistaken), along with getting relatively “serious” about it this school year, I am really glad to be a part of the team. Even though we don’t really have a close bond with each other, we all get to have nice, casual conversations every once in a while during the games we cover, etc. and the best part is that we were brought together through a common love – coverage of high school sports, whether it be through photography, videography, or editorials/ writing.

D700 + 85/1.4 for all three images. Tried to make another rather boring 366 entry interesting by doing a triptych, but the game itself was pretty mediocre so I couldn’t get some generally ‘action-packed’ shots. As always, though, the D700 + 85/1.4 aided me in getting superb quality images.

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Entertainment for home, family, and friends.

Spent my President’s Day today by hanging out at home, doing whatever until around 1 o’clock, where I received a call from a potential client who was recommended from a friend of mine, who was looking for a photographer for her daughter’s quinceanera. We ended up meeting up at the Starbucks in Serramonte (since my mom & dad wanted to go there anyways), and everything went very well! After that, my parents & I ate at the food court, stayed there for a little, and then went to Kohl’s. After that, we went home, Donmig, Trixie, and Angelica (Trixie & Angelica watched a movie with my baby cousin in the morning) came over, and we just chilled for the remainder of the day. We also played some games on the Wii, which is always fun. After that, we set off for my aunt’s house for our usual weekly dinner routine, only to have my day slowly come to an end as I arrive back home.

Thought of the day? While I didn’t do a whole lot on my day off from classes, I am still very thankful for today as far as the sharing of simple joys and company with family members is concerned. There’s nothing better than spending time with the people you love, and that’s what the Holidays are for! Fortunately, also, I will also be having tomorrow off as well since there will be no chem lab tomorrow.

D700 + 85/1.4. I don’t like this one either, but alas, it’s today’s image. A simple snapshot, pretty much just adjusted my settings, pointed at the subject, focused, and snapped away. Nothing more, nothing less.

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As previously mentioned in my 50.366 post, my cousin & I arrived at the Fort Mason Festival and Herbst Pavilions at around 10 AM, and got inside at 2 PM due to some numerous technical difficulties from the Wekfest workers. Being first-time attendees, I was unsure of what exactly to expect aside from the huge crowd in attendance, constant inhaling of secondhand smoke, and people among the crowd becoming restless. To make the long story short, I was able to capture a bunch of beautiful images that I am very satisfied with. I don’t regret attending the event at all, even considering that I had to pay full price for admission (since it was a last-minute impulse decision that my cousin & I made) while many others had the flyer with them.

Personally, for me, coming from sports & people photography.. Today was a ton of fun when viewed at a photographic perspective. Wekfest IV gave me an opportunity to improve on my ever-so-growing automotive photography skills, allowing me to try out different angles, perspectives, and all that good stuff.

So, without further ado, here are [some of] the images from today!

*Yes, I took pictures of BMW’s more than anything, but that should have been expected!

A bunch of cars rolling in.

A good four or so hours of waiting, patiently…

Finally got inside!

Canibeat. For some reason, I wasn’t able to get an image of Holly!

“Holy Miata Batman!” (~Canibeat’s Instagram Feed)

Because Disney Car?

Europrojectz!

Simply beautiful.

One of the many E46 M3′s there. Love the contrast on this car, in particular.

Sadly, this didn’t catch my eye too much – I see too many at school already! Still a nice car, though!

Vinyl Styles.

Matte.

Two-tone hood looks superb.

V-Dubs!

This E38 broke a ton of necks.. Can’t complain!

You can never go wrong with an NSX.

Ms. Justene Jaro!

Love how the colors just flow with this one.

Estoril.

CCW.

Yet another beautiful E46.

Remembered seeing this car from Canibeat’s coverage of Wekfest III, it was pretty cool seeing it in person!

The lovely Elissa Alva!

Lambo~

Nice van, bro.

Departing; Scrape city.

All photos above were taken with my D700 + 85/1.4 or 17-35/2.8-4; Post work was done in LR3. 

The complete gallery of photos can be viewed at my website by clicking HERE. Enjoy!

www.eluisphoto.com

“It’s a mystical bond between man and machine.“

Woke up early in the morning and went to 7:30 AM mass @ OLM with Donmig. After mass, we got breakfast at the Burger King down the street, and then headed home. We hung out there for a while, and got ready to head out for Wekfest IV, which was taking place at Fort Mason in San Francisco. Just as we were about to head out for Daly City BART, so we could BART to Montgomery, and then take the 30 all the way to Fort Mason, my parents offered and insisted that they bring us there instead. We went for it, and that definitely saved a lot of stress/ time. We arrived at around 10:15 AM, and waited in line until 1 PM, which was when the doors were scheduled to open. The workers at Wekfest were running about an hour under schedule, though, and we ended up getting in at around 2-ish. To make the long story short, Donmig & I had a great time being first timers at Wekfest, despite the huge crowd which contained a good amount of shoving, pushing, and people getting in the way of our shots. We both captured a bunch of beautiful images, as well as meeting up with Rolo, Mindy, Zalo, and Jenn. We also ended up meeting Ryan, Joey, and Krystyle for the first time – it’s always fun meeting new people, especially when we can all hang out and talk to each other like we’ve known each other for quite a while, and that’s exactly how we felt! Fast forward a couple of hours later, we decide to depart from Wekfest, and say our goodbyes to everyone. Ryan, Donmig, and I ended up hanging out at Safeway. Donmig & I were both really hungry, so we decided to try out a sandwich at Safeway’s deli that has intrigued me for a while now – California Dreamin’. It lived up to it’s hype and proved to be delicious. A few minutes later, Ryan had to leave, and my dad ended up showing up to pick Donmig & I up. We headed home, and my long & tiring Sunday slowly came to a close!

Stay tuned for my Wekfest IV recap!

Thought of the day? If I didn’t make it clear already.. Wekfest IV was a ton of fun! It definitely gave Donmig & I (as well as everyone else with a camera around their neck) a change to improve on our automotive photography skills, experimenting with different angles, perspectives, and so on. I don’t regret having to pay the full price (since it was a relatively last-minute decision, thus we didn’t have any flyers) for admission at all, as the event made for some great images on top of a great experience.

D700 + 85/1.4. Had this lens, as well as the 17-35/2.8-4 mounted to my D700 the whole time. I had initially planned to snap a fair amount of images with my iPhone 4 as well, for Instagram purposes, but my battery was acting up for some reason and drained extremely quickly, rendering it pretty much useless for the whole event since I had to make it last the whole day. Instead, I used the D700 for probably 99% of the time, and I don’t regret it one bit!

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Bonus: From left to right: Ryan, myself, Mindy, Rolo, Joey, Krystyle.

Enjoy!

We are the champions, my friends.

Spent the most of my day either at home, or at Kezar Pavilion photographing two championship games for San Fran Preps. I photographed the International vs. San Domenico game (International won), and the Bay vs. Leadership game (Bay won). Aside from that, though, [as I previously mentioned] my day was spent at home either on the laptop, hanging out with my cousins, or just chilling, enjoying my Saturday, in general.

Thought of the day? The cycling lights at Kezar Pavilion were really irritating at first, when getting my camera settings all ready to go, but I managed to figure them out relatively easily (f/1.6, 1/500sec, ISO 2000-2500). The lighting at Kezar Pavilion is pretty interesting, where the actual floor is well-illuminated, but the people in the stands had little to no ambient light whatsoever. It definitely made for some different compositions and all that good stuff.

D700 + 85/1.4 for both images. Since this was my first time at Kezar Pavilion, I had no idea about the lighting of the gymnasium. Having heard from many that it wasn’t necessarily the best-lit place, I went with the trusy 85/1.4 and am very glad with my decision. It focused very well today (considering the harsh shadows which sometimes confuses the lens & camera, leaving it slightly OOF by a few millimeters which, if you shoot a very wide aperture, results in a pretty drastic difference) and got the job done almost every time.

www.eluisphoto.com

“Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.”

Had my chemistry test in the morning, followed by a quiz in calculus shortly after. Oddly, I didn’t find either one too challenging – I feel fairly confident about each one, and am really glad that I studied a great deal last night. After that, the rest of my classes went by pretty quickly, and after school I headed to SH to pick up my sister. After that, we went to go and pick up Donmig from Westmoor, and then chilled at home. At around 6:30-ish, JR & Jenn picked Donmig & I up, we went to get Nico, and then set off for St. Paul of the Shipwreck for a concert that was being hosted by the parish, as well as a worship group known as Foundation. The concert was quite entertaining, and it was good seeing some old faces, as well as meeting new ones. After that, we met up with Jerome and Brian and went to In-N-Out, and later having JR drop us all home – concluding my blessed Friday.

Thought of the day? I’m really glad that I attended the concert, because despite being a little out of the way (and thus not hugely populated in the church), the songs were all very touching & eye-opening and it was really interesting how they incorporated praise & worship into fast-paced, catchy phrases. It was pretty cool seeing every dancing around and whatnot in the church, while the artists were performing. The company, of course, also added to the experience, and I thank each and every one of them for always being there, by my side.

D700 + 85/1.4. Upon entering the church, I was very glad that Donmig had suggested I bring the 85/1.4 instead of the 80-200/2.8, because the lighting wasn’t the greatest in there (which was to be expected, anyways). Once again, the D700 + 85/1.4 combo did it again, giving me stellar results – even at high ISO’s (the image above was taken at ISO 4000!). During the course of the event, I also let Donmig & Jenn use the camera to play around a bit – Jenn ended up snapping this one.. Props!

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“Defense wins games.”

Got out of bed at 11 AM today, spending most of my morning laying in bed and sleeping in on my day off. After getting up & out, I did my usual morning routine, followed by working on my essay/write-up for my The Imaginary Museum class, regarding the Masters of Venice exhibit from the De Young Museum last Tuesday. After that, I headed to SHCP, hung out with Jenn for a little bit, and picked up my sister. Headed home, ended up finishing the essay, as well as OWL, an hour in upon arriving. After that, I pretty much devoted the rest of my time to studying for my Chemistry test that I have tomorrow. At 6:30 PM or so, I headed out to Saint Ignatius to photograph their playoff game against St. Francis of Mountain View. The Wildcats blew St. Francis away, easily taking the W with the score being 59-28 at the end of regulation. They played stellar defense with a very effective full-court press in the first half, followed by slowing down the momentum in the second half, but still maintaining a very good half-court defense throughout. Aside from that, though, the rest of my night was devoted to studying for Chemistry, hence the [relatively] early entry!

Thought of the day? Nothing too crazy. Just eager to get my Chemistry exam (and various others that aren’t too major) over & done with before my 4-day weekend commences. I’m sure I’ll do well, as I just need to get a couple of more more things down before I can say that I’m fully confident. I wish everyone a good Friday, as well as a blessed President’s Day weekend!

D700 + 85/1.4. Since today was more studious than anything, I am pretty much forced to upload a shot from the girls’ game. I don’t really like this image either, but regardless of what it is, a picture is a picture. Hopefully tomorrow’s will be more promising.. Stay tuned!

www.eluisphoto.com

Mad you ain’t hanging with ‘em in the driveway, nah we ‘gon keep it moving to the highway.

Had a pretty chill day today. Started it off with the usual – Chemistry, Math, Art, and Philosophy. After that, I went to SHCP to pick up my sister, and then headed home. At home, I installed my $32 pre-painted eBay trunk lip spoiler that I received in the mail on Tuesday. Everything was as described, with everything fitting great & the color matching very, very well. After that, Donmig came over, hung out for a little more, and then Donmig & I went to the Westlake Shopping Center parking garage to go and snap some photos of my car – not just for today’s 366 entry, but also so he could get more and more used to shooting manual exposure mode. After getting a fair amount of shots, we headed back home, and my day slowly but surely came to an end.

Thought of the day? You can pretty much say I’m satisfied with the eBay trunk lip spoiler I received (from eBay seller: oem.thing). As I had previously mentioned in the paragraph above, the paint of the spoiler matched my car’s pretty much spot-on. The fitment was great, as well, with it being a couple of millimeters off on both sides (not completely covering the trunk boot lid’s edge), but it was to be expected since this was the < $40 version as opposed to the supposedly better-fitting, $70 or so variants. Shipping was very fast, too, especially considering the fact that they were all coming from Taiwan! All in all, I’m very satisfied with the purchase!

D700 + 17-35/2.8-4. That’s right – today’s 366 image is a .gif image! I had the initial intent to just have a single image of the car to upload for today, but had the idea of taking two images, one with the corner and fog lights on & the other with them off. Good thing I remembered seeing a similar approach taken from the E46fanatics/ Bimmerforums websites, or this image would not have turned out like what you see above!

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Bonus: Two other shots of the E46 from today – taken with the D700 + 85/1.4!

Enjoy!

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.”

Had yet another long chemistry lab session in the morning, with three and a half hours of good, old-fashioned pH measuring of weak and strong acids/ bases, as well as other various calculations. After that, I left USF, and headed to Target in Daly City to go and print a bunch of images. I then went home, showered up, got ready, and made a quick stop to Safeway to pick up a red rose before heading to SHCP. Upon arriving at SH, I was a couple of minutes early, but when the time finally came (for dismissal @ 2:30 PM), I went and met up with Kim a few seconds after and handed her my camera! When Jenn arrived at the DePaul Campus, our eyes met, and I handed over to her the rose, as well as chocolate that I got her for Valentine’s Day. After a good amount of cute remarks and whatnot (as well as a lot of shutter clicks going off!), Jenn had to go to her rehearsals for her SHCP theater production. Fast forward an hour and a half later, she got out, and we then hung out at Stonestown mall for a bit, and even got something for her sister, Steph! After all of that, I went home, hung out for a good half-hour or so, and then found myself in the car – once again – driving to SHCP to photograph their playoff game vs. Saint Ignatius. The way the game went, blatantly put, was quite boring. SHCP ended up defeating them (For the third time this season, not losing once to the Wildcats) in a relatively easy victory. When all was said and done, my Tuesday slowly came to a close.

Thought of the day? Thankful for a wonderful Tuesday – from the beautiful weather, to the success of the gifts, to the ongoing positive outlook of the rest of the day. I’d also like to thank Jenn, personally, for simply being herself. Today was filled with nothing but good vibes and good times for myself, and I’m hoping everyone else did as well! Remember – every day should be “love day”, not just February 14th!

D700 + 85/1.4 for all three images. Had Kim snap these images for me (obviously, since I’m in the pictures above) and I enjoyed these three in particular, so much that I decided to make a horizontal triptych! I chose the image in the center because while the ‘real’ subjects are out of focus, it was kind of amusing, in a sense, seeing that everyone surrounded Jenn & myself as I was presenting my gift to her after school at the DePaul Campus, where students were going to their lockers, heading home, etc. Thanks again for the great shots, Kim! 

www.eluisphoto.com